Inorganic particulate minerals are used in a wide variety of applications. For example, inorganic particulate minerals may be used as a filler or extender in numerous materials such as adhesives, sealants, glass, ceramics, films, rubber, paints, papers and plastics. The inorganic particulate mineral may provide advantageous properties such as colour, opacity, gloss, rheology, hardness, chemical resistance, thermal resistance and thermal conductivity. The inorganic particulate mineral may also be used to reduce the amount of another component in a composition, for example, to reduce the toxicity and/or cost of the composition.
Inorganic particulate minerals are often stored, sold and transported as dry mineral or in aqueous suspensions. The inorganic particulate mineral is often kept for days or weeks before it is used in its intended application. The inorganic particulate mineral may be combined with various additives that assist in providing or maintaining favourable properties. The additives may also assist in imparting these favourable properties on the materials and products into which the inorganic particulate mineral is incorporated.
The inorganic particulate mineral may be subject to contamination by microbes such as bacteria, which over a period of time multiply. This can negatively affect the properties of the inorganic particulate mineral, for example by causing discolouration or malodour. It may also result in the contamination of further materials and products into which the inorganic particulate mineral is incorporated. It is thus desirable to reduce the number of microbes (e.g. eliminate) in compositions comprising inorganic particulate mineral and/or to prevent of limit the growth of microbes in these compositions.